Bike EXIF » Matchlesshttp://www.bikeexif.com
Bike EXIF is a showcase for the world's most exciting custom motorcycles, from cafe racers to bobbers to street trackers.Sun, 02 Aug 2015 06:32:55 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Matchless Rickman Metisse G50http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-motorcycle
http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-motorcycle#commentsTue, 08 Mar 2011 17:30:14 +0000http://www.bikeexif.com/?p=11644
I’ve always had a soft spot for Matchless (and AJS) motorcycles. And if I had a spare US$40,000 kicking around, I’d pop over to New Zealand and bid for this one in the Webb’s Auction of Classic Motorcycles. It’s a G50, a 500cc development of the 350cc AJS 7R, and with less than 200 examples built, it has rarity value as well as beauty. According to the auction notes, the G50 was in direct competition with the Norton Manx: “The lighter Matchless could take the day on tight and twisty circuits … Just as the 7R had achieved a decade or more before, the G50 quickly made itself a good name, being acknowledged as exceptionally quick in the ‘middle-power’ range so essential on twisty circuits. In maintenance costs, too, it found favor with the riders, for it seemed to maintain its tune far better than did the slightly faster 500 ‘Manx’ Norton and spares cost less.” This particular 1964 Matchless is even more rare than usual, with a Rickman frame designed to increase its racing prowess still further. Just lovely. [See more classic motorcycles in the latest Webb’s online auction catalog.]

]]>http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-motorcycle/feed0Matchless G80CShttp://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-g80cs
http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-g80cs#commentsMon, 14 Dec 2009 18:30:25 +0000http://www.bikeexif.com/?p=6586
This bike is almost sixty years old, yet it’s just as desirable today as it was in 1950. For starters, it’s one of the original ‘scramblers’ and it’s as rare as hen’s teeth. And the back end, exhaust system and tank graphics would be perfectly at home on a contemporary Tokyo custom. The Matchless G80 series might be a simple 500cc British pushrod thumper, but it’s achieved remarkable status in the vintage motorcycle world—and this ‘CS’ scrambler was the ultimate G80 derivative. The CS (Competition Suspension) model was highly regarded as an off-road competition bike, and was still active in events worldwide until the late 1960s. It’s not known how many genuine competition bikes still survive; because the CS had such great lines, quite a few standard G80s have been converted to ‘CS’ spec. This particular CS is the real thing, however. It’s owned by John Dennehy, a Brit living in New Zealand, and was restored in the UK by the collector Dr Richard Johns. The frame number is 2755C, which confirms that it was a very early G80 competition frame manufactured at the south London Matchless factory in 1950. Sometimes the original is the best. [Thanks to Glenn Edley of car137 for the tip. There’s a video of an immaculate G80CS fired up here: check the valves hammering away.]
]]>http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-g80cs/feed1Matchless G80 specialhttp://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-g80
http://www.bikeexif.com/matchless-g80#commentsWed, 09 Sep 2009 18:30:12 +0000http://www.bikeexif.com/?p=4956
This lovely Matchless G80CS from the early 1950s belongs to Sylvain Coste in France. It doesn’t actually exist any more—the engine has been transplanted into a Seeley Mk III frame, and the rest of the motorcycle has been dismantled. The engine is a 680 cc special built by the French ‘Mr Matchless’, Jean-Paul Altayrac. In the picture, it’s shrouded by an Avon fairing, a Matchless Scrambler alloy tank, and an AJS 7R saddle.